The present application relates generally to systems and methods associated with the capture and processing of images of skin, and more particularly to tracking changes in skin over time.
The skin is the largest organ on the human body. And in recent years, cancer of the skin, specifically melanoma, is on the rise. The challenge of fighting skin cancer in patients is not the lack of a cure, but the lack of early detection. Checking skin regularly through skin cancer screening and skin health monitoring, either at a patient's home or at a physician's office, can be essential for detecting skin cancer early enough to effectively treat a tumor.
Detection and diagnosis of melanoma typically has relied on visual inspection by a patient or his/her physician or dermatologist, biopsy of anomalous moles or regions of the skin, and surgery to remove tumors found to be cancerous, followed in some cases by radiation treatment, immunotherapy, chemotherapy or the like.
Various systems and methods have been developed for use in early detection of skin cancer. Although these systems and methods provide for a solution in delivering earlier detection, a problem exists in that the early detection procedure is traditionally done through visual means only, lacks a formalized, data-driven control, and lacks a follow-up protocol inherent in detecting changes in the size, shape, color, location, and other characteristics of a mole or skin anomaly which could indicate the presence of skin cancer on a patient's skin. Additionally, systems and methods have been developed using expensive, large, proprietary devices, cumbersome machinery, the use of multiple camera setups, full-body image scans and various other solutions which can present various barriers to a patient and physician alike to performing rigorous early detection procedures and which may be cost-prohibitive and less persistent than desired.
Consumers of programs, devices, and methods for early detection of skin cancer would be desirous of systems and methods for improved skin image capture and processing which can be used by both patients and physicians in the early detection process and to support the history and evolution of skin over time. It would be desirable to provide systems and methods for early detection of skin cancer which can be performed using readily available technology including the processors within already existing mobile phones and tablets coupled together with cloud-based computer processors, memory and instructions. Thus, there is a need to create new and useful systems and methods for skin image capture and processing.
Accordingly, there is a need for sequential/repeatable skin image capture and methods for tracking changes between temporally distinct images of skin, as described herein.